Review: ‘Sleater-Kinney’s Dig Me Out’ by Jovana Babovic

Sleater-Kinney’s Dig Me Out by Jovana Babovic not only dives into the album for the latest of the 33 1/3 releases, but it also dives into the culture surrounding women in music. While the book takes you through the album, it focuses on what it meant for the individual band members, the tour surrounding the release, and how the band was treated on the road. Babovic presents a well-researched book (as you can see from the plethora of sources in the Notes section).

Babovic displayed the toughness and the DIY attitude of Sleater-Kinney perfectly through her writing. The band had offers from major labels and decided to move ahead without accepting them. The band didn’t want to lost the close connections they had made with their fans just so they could play larger venues and make more money. During said tour, Babovic also details how the band was treated as if they didn’t know anything about music since they didn’t have a bassist. It was upsetting to read portions of this book considering women are still being treated poorly in the music industry today.

I can’t recommend checking out this book enough. If you care even an inkling about women in the music industry, it’s important to read about past events so that we can stop them from being repeated. I’ve had several conversations about this and this is a book we can all learn something from. If you are interested, grab a copy here. The book is a quick read, as are all of the 33 1/3 series books, and it’s definitely worth your time.